Sketching in Perugia

Got out and did some sketching today. And made my second mandatory Italy purchase. Gloves. It's c-c-c-cold. I'm not even in the mountains yet. But every corner looks like this. 

It's worth being chilly.  Truth be told I painted this from inside a cafe. I went on to do another painting from inside a resto while I ate chicken cacciatore for lunch. At this rate both my sketchbook and my jeans are going to fill out nicely. 

I wrote the following at Al Mangiar Bene after arriving here last night:

I'm in Perugia, and have apparently arrived here before the advent of wifi. It is nowhere, at least not in the historical centre where I'm staying.  It is completely medieval here.  The room I've rented is inside a building built for a cardinal in the 1500s. The entryway is large enough to drive a huge horse and carriage into. It's cavernous. The upper floors have been carved up into apartments, and then makeshift rooms were added into any awkward space they could put them. And that's where you'll find me. One wall in my sleeping area is still the old exposed stone. It's dank and musty, but that's kind of what I signed up for. I have a mezzanine, not tall enough to stand up in, but I work sitting down anyways

I arrived tired and hungry so my host sent me in the direction of the main piazza, just a half an alley, an Etruscan arch and one winding stone staircase away from our front door. There's not a square inch that isn't centuries old stone, and all at wild, impossible angles. Why didn't I see this when I googled Perugia?! It is mind blowing. I followed the little pirate map he gave me and found my way here  to 'al mangiar bene' where I sit in front of the remnants of one of the best dishes I've ever eaten. Gnocchi with pork, crema and truffle oil. So simple, but the gnocchi are little pillows from heaven. If I went in the kitchen I'm betting I won't find a can opener or a package of anything. Their ingredients must all come in sacks and baskets from local producers.  Or heaven. So good. 

I wonder what's for breakfast?